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Best Financial Advice. EVER.

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Hands Down. This is the Best Financial Advice I’ve EVER received.

Written by: Karen Roth

The following advice was given to me 20 years ago when I owned a photography studio in the DC area – A nationally recognized/awarded photographer noticed my work in a local gallery and called me. At the time, I was struggling to make ends meet. I had only recently started my business as a single mom with 2 young children.

After introducing himself, the mystery man asked if I would be interested in a ‘mentor’? He explained that he was happily married and lived in another state so there was no risk of him having any other intention than to support me as a new photographer. He wished to share some of the wisdom he had learned over his long career.

I instinctively knew that this was one of those Divine Appointments and I gratefully and immediately accepted his gift of mentoring. We never met in person. However, he helped me unimaginably and I credit much of my later business success to his wise words of encouragement.

So what was his advice?

Number 3

Raise your prices.

He graciously complemented my work and respectfully explained that I was doing a great disservice to other professional photographers by unknowingly underpricing my work. He shared that as a new photographer, I would always be able to lower my prices if needed but that to start out undervaluing my work would essentially forever brand me as a low-budget photographer in the minds of prospective clients.

With his help, I restructured my entire pricing strategy. Yes, not everyone was willing to pay my higher prices. However, my ideal clientele appreciated the service and quality I provided and my business grew organically via “word of mouth”. Each time my schedule grew ‘too busy’, I simply raised my prices again to create balance.

Number 2

Never assume that your clients are in the same financial situation as you are.

This one really freed me up. As a single mom at the time, I was certainly not in a position to hire a high-end photographer. I argued, “I can’t afford me”! The mentor laughed and said, YOU are not YOUR client.

And lastly, his most valuable advice to me? The one single thing that changed everything about how I view life and living?

The NUMBER 1 most important financial advice he gave me?

Do not allow $$ to make important decisions for you.

Until he mentioned it, I hadn’t realized just how much I lived this way. It was as if the blinders were suddenly removed. The principle behind this is powerful. If money dictates your life, your life is not your own.

I’ve learned to live with vision. To see my destiny through eyes of faith. To dream BIG dreams that are many times quite disproportionate to my current financial situation. I’ve learned that when I trust and walk into new opportunities without knowing the how? The why? gives me the courage to take the first step – and then the next, and the next…

Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe – Oprah Winfrey

About the Author

Karen Roth, Ph.D. is the President of Femfessionals Sarasota and a Femfessionals Blogger. She’s an educational psychologist and fashion designer with an insatiable passion for inspiring & supporting enterprising women who have been (or are currently in), the trenches of life. Her perspective draws from 25+ years of experience as a serial entrepreneur in the diverse arenas of fashion, visual arts, mind-body-spirit wellness, and hospitality. A self-proclaimed introvert with reclusive tendencies, Karen feels most comfortable sharing reflections, insights, and musings on life, business, and faith in the context of her blog, which can be found on her business website, http://www.karenrothresort.com and also at karenrothblog.com.

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